Important Anniversaries (Slightly Late)

While I am currently staring at a room full of undergrads worrying over an Astro test, I though it appropriate to mention that yesterday we had two very important anniversaries. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight. He was the first person to travel to outer space and to orbit the earth. Perhaps many people just don't realize how amazing that is that someone was able to leave the atmosphere of our planet, travel all the way around it, and come back. That single act has radically changed the way we see the universe and our part in it.

On a slightly related note, yesterday was also the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch. That has also been very important for how we view our place in the universe. We are only beginning to explore and to know our universe. Here's to more years of exploration and life changing events.

(On an almost completely unrelated note, yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. But that is an important anniversary for more terrestrial concerns.)